OPUS: Prism Peak Review

OPUS: Prism Peak is the latest title from SIGONO INC. and published by Shueisha Games. I have to admit, this title has captivated me since I saw the trailer back in February. Having been described as an amalgamation of the works of Makoto Shinkai (Your Name) and Firewatch, I was intrigued. Considering the number of hours I’ve watched Shinkai films? Well, that was me sold. So, when I saw that we were given the opportunity to review it, I jumped at the chance.

And with that, I dove right in. In OPUS: Prism Peak, you play as Eugene, a child whose parents are in the midst of getting divorced, so he spends his time with his grandpa. His grandfather would tell him of the old mountain god, Nosa (spelling unclear, as all ancient names have their own unique alphabetical runes within the game). Together, they would take photographs of nature on the mountain. This shared time that the pair of them spent together kept Eugene in a chokehold, and he then dedicated his whole life to photography.

Unfortunately, this isn’t exactly a good thing. See, he’s dedicated his entire life to his craft, and with it, he’s… kind of lost everything. With no job, no wife, and now, no camera — he actually planned to quit after the prologue — he finds himself in an accident while on the way to his grandfather’s funeral. And with it, his story begins.

Upon awakening in his car, Eugene is transported to the Dusklands — a land where animals can speak — and where he finds a young girl unconscious not far from where he woke. Said girl has no memories of what happened, but she knows more than him. So when the two are hunted by a creature known as the Shade, it’s she who is able to lead them to safety, and kind of explain what the hell is going on. Her goal is to return to Dusk Mountain — her home — and while Eugene is reluctant to help at first, he eventually agrees.

Depending on how you play, Eugene could be an optimist despite all he’s been through, or he can be the world’s worst pessimist. Together, they are met by a strange deer that is blinded by cataracts, who brings Eugene’s Prisma camera to him. How? Well, this is the Dusklands, and it’s not exactly his camera, just the same one as what his grandfather had when he was a kid. The deer asks Eugene to take a photograph of him, and it reveals his name in the ancient language. All you need to do is point and shoot, ensuring that the camera is in focus and that the deer is in shot. It’s easily done, and it’s just a refresher of what Eugene’s grandpa taught him during the tutorial.

With his camera and an amnesiac girl — Ren — in tow, they head out on their journey, where they discover a factory. Said factory is dilapidated, ruined by the Shade attacks that have come by, and this will be a regular theme throughout the game. See, the Shade have ruined so many lives, and the only way to stop them is by shooting them with a camera. While at the factory, they meet a giant ox spirit who is buried beneath the rubble, and who only remembers his name after Eugene takes a photograph of him.

Unfortunately, while Eugene can do a lot, he can’t take photographs of Ren. He’s tried. She never appears in his photos, and she’s at risk of fading away. The only way she’ll appear is by getting some adorable backpacks, of which only the apparel is actually visible in the pictures. Eugene can get these by going to a firebowl, where he can sacrifice some Embershine seeds. Embershine are flowers that grow a lot in the mountains, and they have a golden sheen to them. To get more Embershine seeds, all you need to do is interact with your surroundings.

You can learn more about the Dusklands, and if you take photographs of these, you could also give them to the firebowl totems, and they’ll give you a cosmetic, a magazine, or you’ll learn more about the spirit it correlates to. I will admit that in my first playthrough, I didn’t learn more about this until later, and so some totems didn’t quite get all of their memories unlocked.

You can also get ash from the firebowl, and so these can be used to uncover more from a field guide you’ll find. In the case of the narrative, a firebowl is how Eugene and his family used to make offerings to Nosa. It’s also the field guide where you can learn to decipher the ancient runes, and you can make more notes on the new animal friends you’ll make. You need ash to write in the journals, and you can also take a bunch of photos to learn more about the mythology and paste them into the guide with you. If you want to learn about the runes, then you’ll find that there are some totems that you can use as reference photos. That, and you’ll find a log of what you’ve done so far in the guide, which is super helpful if you leave the game for a hot second.

In some cases, you’ll only be able to look at the rune totems and murals with a special filter: the Dusklands filter. You can change around different filters and lenses, and you can get more by offering the Embershine seeds. As the game progresses, you’ll find that you need to think more about what you’re doing. For example, autofocus will be an issue later, and you’ll need to unlock how to manually focus on the camera. Plus, you can adjust the shutter speed, which is trial-and-error until you get another piece of gear that will help you out.

Throughout the narrative, you’ll find that you need to think carefully about where you take each photo, and what of. Random shots won’t help you, but if you get the angle right? You could learn a lot. In many cases, the photos you’ll be requested to take by the animal totems in the firebowl are small riddles in themselves, so you’ll need to consider what it’s asking of you. In this case, there are a lot of puzzle elements that made me think about what they were requesting, or even how to stop a picture from being saturated.

Without exploring your surroundings, you may not find what the totems or what the animals are looking for. It’s all about paying attention, and this is equally important when filling in the field guide to understand who the animals are. With that in mind, this isn’t just a game about photography, but a guide to understanding what’s in front of you. However it’s not only the animals. You’re exploring the different areas, such as around the factory, you’re still learning the controls, but then you’re also travelling to the city and exploring it to find who you’re looking for. Then once you get to the Mountain? Well… That’s for you to find out.

As I don’t want to give too much away about the actual plot, I will say that OPUS: Prism Peak was a rollercoaster throughout. I played an entire run within ten hours (all on the same day, it’s hard to grip me that much). It appears really well-optimised on Steam Deck, and even the chase sequences with the Shade are a lot of fun, which surprised me, because I usually am notoriously bad at those.

By all accounts, I wanted to go back and see more of what I missed in my first playthrough; there are 26 possible endings that you can get, which is a lot of fun. Admittedly, my only gripe is that there’s not really a pause button for cutscenes, but that’s a very minor one. You can still pause outside of those. The visuals are beautiful, and so is the music, and I found all the characters really relatable. Plus, once you complete the game, you can choose whichever chapter you want to go back to and skip through cutscenes.

Overall, I don’t think that OPUS: Prism Peak is a game that anyone should miss out on. If you enjoy narrative adventure games without high stakes, and a game that utilises photography well? Then, this could be the one for you.